1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a fuel cell in which different reactive gases are externally supplied to individual electrodes and are reacted to produce electricity. The invention also relates to an electronic device and an automobile including the fuel cell manufactured according to the method.
2. Description of Related Art
Related art fuel cells include, for example, an electrolyte membrane, an electrode (anode) having a reacting layer on a surface of the electrolyte membrane, and another electrode (cathode) having another reacting layer made of, for example, platinum microparticles on the other surface of the electrolyte membrane. Among such fuel cells, for example, solid polymer electrolyte fuel cells use a solid polymer electrolyte membrane. On the anode side of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, hydrogen splits into hydrogen ions and electrons. These electrons are conducted to the cathode side while the hydrogen ions travel through the electrolyte membrane to the cathode side. On the cathode side, the hydrogen ions combine with oxygen gas and the electrons to form water.
In the related art, micro fuel cells have been researched and developed for use in, for example, mobile devices. The micro fuel cells have been manufactured by microelectromechanical systems (MEMSs), which are based on micromachining technology in, for example, semiconductor processes. An example of such methods includes patterning a resist resin on a substrate, etching any part except the pattern to form gas channels, and removing the resist resin (see Sang-Joon J. Lee, Suk Won Cha, Amy Chang-Chien, Ryan O'Hayre, and Fritz B. Prinz, Factorial Design Study of Miniature Fuel Cells with Micromachined Silicon Flow Structures, The 200th Meeting of The Electrochemical Society, Abstract No. 452 (2001), and Amy Chang-Chien, Suk Won Cha, Sang-Joon J. Lee, Ryan O'Hayre, and Fritz B. Prinz, Planar Interconnection of Multiple Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells by Microfabrication, The 200th Meeting of The Electrochemical Society, Abstract No. 453 (2001)).